Slow Migration

This week we're at the Gros Ventre campground in Grand Teton National Park, just south of Yellowstone. The Teton Range always fascinates me. I've gotten tons of pictures, from various vantage points and in many dynamic light conditions. We've had rain, fog/low-hanging clouds, and sunshine! These are some of my personal favorites.

GROWING GLACIER

When we were in Alaska, we did a small-ship 'luxury-adventure' cruise; no towns, no shopping, no 'dressing-for-dinner'; just about 80 guests, 40 crew, lots of sea kayaking & shore hiking, and incredible gourmet meals.  We spent two whole days in Glacier Bay National Park with a Park Ranger on-board.  We visited coves, inlets, and glaciers the big cruise ships don't get to see.  At the top of Glacier Bay, very near the Canadian border, Johns Hopkins Glacier continues to advance when most glaciers are receding.  It is a huge glacier!  We were incredibly fortunate to be able to get right up to the face of the glacier (1/4 mile for safety reasons); boats are not allowed beyond where seals are calving but LUCKY US, the seals were clear up at the glacier!  This was the first time anyone on board, including the Ranger, had been this close to the face. And better luck still: the glacier was very active, calving continuously the couple hours we watched in awe before we had to pull away before it got dark -- very dangerous maneuvering through the icebergs.

This little (11" x 6.5" x 6") trapezoid-shaped watercolor on YUPO is my impression of the glacier.

And just for grins, here's my reference photo:

MADISON RIVER MORNINGS:

Here's a couple pictures of our view along the Madison, on the West boundary of Yellowstone National Park. Mornings the fog rises off the river and it's absolutely beautiful.

EXPLORING YELLOWSTONE #1

Late yesterday, after Jamie finished working, we drove into the Park to begin our explorations.  As it was late in the day, we didn't want to drive too far so we just went up the road to Old Faithful and did the little side drives and walks; Firehole Falls was spectacular!

We had NOT heard that Steamboat Geyser in the Norris Basin area was erupting or we would have gone there -- RATS!  We'll try that today, along with most every other tourist in the area. 

The geysers & paint pots in the Old Faithful area did seem especially active yesterday; maybe the whole place is set to blow sky-high or implode or whatever. . .

Here's a few pictures:

SEPTEMBER MORN

We're camped on the banks of the Madison River, right on the west boundary of Yellowstone National Park.  A fairly magical place, with great access to the Park attractions.  This is a small national forest campground, every space occupied by an RV & seniors taking advantage of our 1/2 price camping courtesy of the Golden Age Passport.  Our site has great views of the river valley and the mountains in the background.  There's a family of river otters here; I'll try to get some pictures to post.  It's downright chilly when we get up (29 @ 6:00 this morning), but the steam rising off the river and the fog in the valley makes for spectacular views.  Here's a few shots from early this morning, just after sunrise.

PAINTING ALONG THE WAY

These are a few pieces I did recently.  I've been making a serious effort to capture our travel experiences/memories in pieces to fit our rather limited wall space in the trailer. 

This large piece is Valley of the Gods in southeast Utah near the little town of Mexican Hat.  It's one of our favorite places and simply spectacular!  The lighting when I took reference photos made the formations absolutely shimmer with vibrant color.

These ravens were well-seasoned beggars strutting their stuff in a parking lot at the Petrified Forest national park in eastern Arizona, near the towns of Winslow & Holbrook.  I titled it 'Cuervo Mendigo', Spanish for raven beggars.  The trapezoid-shape fits above our entertainment slide-out where the roof is sloped.

This little piece is watercolor on Yupo, a polypropylene surface.  I love the juicy effects, which are fairly unmanageable and tons of fun.  This is my impression of the view from our trailer while we were camped at Lost Creek State Park near Anaconda Montana.  The title is 'Lodgepole. Aspen. Granite.'

Art Catch-Up

Wow!  It's been a while since I've posted anything, let alone my paintings.  Sorry 'bout that, those of you who follow my blog!  Here's a couple of my recent paintings. Both are from our trip to Alaska.
The first is a little 5"x7" watercolor on Yupo that I did for my wonderful daughter-in-law Jenise, for her birthday.  It was so fun to do; Yupo works very nicely for a juicy dramatic sky.  We saw lots of humpback whale while on our adventure cruise.

This is another trapezoid-shaped piece that's mounted above our living room slide-out.  It's from Denali National Park Wilderness, the Polychrome Pass.  30" x 11" x 10", watercolor on 300# Fabriano paper.

I'm quite happy with both these pieces, and Polychrome Pass is a welcome addition to our home!